Method of treating products



Dec.13,1932. u. G. TODD 1,890,475

METHOD OF TREATING PRobucTs Filed June 8, 1928 4sheets sheet 1 INVENTORU W 01 JbaZeZ L i r %zls ATTORNZS Dec. 13, 1932. u. G n-00D METHOD OFTREATING PRODUCTS Filed June 8, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 u. ca. TODD METHODOF TREATING PRODUCTS Filed June 8. 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 #W zlsATTORNEYS Dec. 13, 1932. D 1,890,475

' METHOD OF TREATING PRODUCTS Filed June 8, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 III I51 INVENTOR WTOLZQZ ATTORIW "Patented DecQ 131-1932 r I-Tao STATESPATENT] OFFICE ULYSESS G. TODD, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASFIGNOR TO THEPFAUDLEB C0401 BOCHESTERyNEW YORK, A CORPORATION OENIEW.YORK a METHOD orrm'rme anon-veers Application filed June 8,

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for treating fruits,vegetables, or

other articles or'products, as forexample, for

purifying and impregnating fruit to produce an articleof food. It hasfor its principal object the provision of a novel and improved methodand apparatus which are more efficientand satisfactory than thoseheretofore provision of a method of treatment and of apknown.

Another object of the, invention is the provision of a method andof anapparatus which are applicable to various treatments of variousproducts, such as organic products, for example. I

Still another object of the invention is the paratus for carrying outthe method which enables various treatments to be accomplishedsatisfactorily in much less time than is possible by the use of themethods and apparatuses heretofore known.

It is a further object of the invention to i provide a method oftreatment and an apparatus which will result in a better and moresatisfactory product than any heretofore known. j

An additional object of the invention is the provision of an apparatusso arranged'that the treating process may be carried on prac ticallycontinuously.

Other and further objects of the invention comprise improvements in.various details of the apparatus, such as the construction of siphons insuch a manner that they will not injure the articles being treated norbecome clogged thereby; and the construction of a pump so arranged thatit may draw liquid from a partially evacuated container.

While mention has been made'above purificationandimpregnation of fruit,it should be understood that this is 1nerely,.by way of example and isnot intended in a limiting sense. The method and apparatus areapplicable to extraction as well as impregnation,

and the substances acted upon may be vegetables,flowers, or variousother products as wellas fruit. H

Tothese and other ends the invention residesin certain improvements andcombinations of parts,

. pointed out nate,'but also in the extraction of from any desiredproducts.

.the specification and all as will be hereinafter more broadest sense.

i928. Serial No.'288,-79.

fully. described, the novel features being in the claim at the end ofthe specification.

In the drawings:

of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig.2 is a central vertical section through one of the fruit containers;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of thefruit containing vessels'or'trays tobe placed within the fruit container;

' Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through the fruit container takensubstantially on the line4-4.-of Fig.2; a

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken centrally through one of the siphons,showing the teleseo ic portion thereof in extended position;

ig. 6 is a view similar toFig. 5 showing .the telescopic portion inanother position;

Fig. 7 1s a longitudinal vertical section" taken centrally through a.portion of the- Fig. -1 is an elevation of one embodiment.

any particular treatment of any particular product, but are applicableequally well, either in whple or in part, to various treat: ments ofvarious" products. For example, the method and apparatus, or either ofthem.

may be used not only in the impregnation of any products which itis-desired to impregsubstances This extraction may be either for thepurpose of purification'of the material being treated, or for thepurpose of obtaining extracts therefrom. .In, some instances, the

product of the treatment may be intendedas a food product, though thisi'snot necessarily the case. The term treatment, as used in claim, isintended in its The novel method, in one aspect, comprises bringing atreating fluid and, a substance to be treated into contact with eachother under suitable pressure conditions. In some instances, the contactmay be made in the presence of a partial vacuum, if a pressure belowthat of the atmosphere is desirable.

At times it may be desirable to vary the pressure upon the substancebeing treated. When the treating fluid happens to be wholly or in part aliquid, the pressure variations may be produced entirely or in partbycausing fluctuations in the depth or head of the liquid, so as toproduce changes in the hydrostatic pressure acting upon the substance.The pressure variations may also be produced wholly or partly by varyingthe pressure of the gas or vapor acting upon the substance beingtreated, when the treating fluid is in a gaseous state; or, when thetreatingfluid is a liquid, the pressure of the air or other gas actingupon the liquid may be varied. When a treating liquid is used, thevariations in pressure on the treated substance may be caused in part byfluctuations in the hydrostatic pressure, as above described, and inpart by changes in the pressure of the gas.

acting upon the liquid.

Another aspect of. the method comprises bringing the treating fluidsuccessively into.

contact with a plurality of batches of substance to be treated. Ifdesired, the fluid may be returned so that it will contact a second timewith one or more of the batches upon which it acted previously, and itmay be treated, if preferred, between its first contact and the secondcontact with the substance.

Still another aspect of the method includes bringing a treating fluidrepeatedlyinto contact with a substance to be treated, either with orwithout treating the fluid between its successive contacts with thesubstance. If treatment of the fluid be employed, this treatmentmayconsist, for example, of concentration, as when the substance bemgtreated is being impregnated by the fluid; or it may consist of adistillation, as when an extraction action isbeing effected on thesubstance; or itmay comprise combined distillation and T concentration,as when impurities arebeing removed from the substance being treated andit is also being impregnated. by the treating fluid.

WVhen any particular process or treatment is being carried out, any oneof the aspects above mentioned may be employed separately, or variouscombinations of the several aspects may be used concomitantly or sue.-cessively, or all of them may be used together. As a concrete example ofa method employing many of the abovefeatures, an improved process ofmanufacturing maraschino cherries will now be described for purposes ofillustration.

Assuming that the cherries contamvarious impurities such as sulphur,which may have been added for purposes. of preservation, certain stepsof the method may first be employed to remove the impurities. Preferablythe cherries areflarranged in a plurality of separate batches, and aresubjected to the influence of a suitable treating fluid. This fluid, forthe present purpose, may be water or other desired .liquid. The.cherries or- 'be varied from time to time, in order to producevariations in the hydrostatic pressure, as mentioned above. Thefluctuations in the head may be produced for example, by allowing liquidto flow into one batch of fruit until it reaches a predetermined height,when a part of the liquid may be withdrawn and transferred toanother'batch; and when the liquid in this. batch reaches apredetermined height, apart of it may. be with-' drawn and transferredto a third batch, and

so on.

Preferably the various batches of fruit are subjected, at least duringpart of the time, to a partial vacuum. Furthermore, the degree of thisvacuum may be changed from time to time in order to vary the pressure ofthe air or other gas acting upon the liquid which is in contact with thefruit. In this way, fluctuations in the pressure acting upon the fruitare produced, due not'only' to the changes in head of the treatingliquid, but also to the variations in pressure of the gas acting uponthe liquid.

These fluc tuations in pressure are advantageous in that they assist thetreating fluid in working into or impregnating the substance beingtreated. When the pressure is varied in the manner above set forth, itis found that the action of the fluid upon the substance is much morerapid and more thor-' ough than when such changes m pressure are notused.

After leaving the last batch of fruit, the

treating fluid is preferably treated, such as by warming it preparatoryto its next passage over the fruit.-' T he treatment of the fluid mayfurther compr se a distilling action, during which part ofthe sulphurwhich has been collected by the fluid from the cherries is distilledoff, thus partially purifying the treating fluid so that it may take upor 3 absorb still more sulphur and other impurities on its next contactwith the fruit.

The treating fluid, after this heating and partial distillation, ispreferably again brought into. contact with the first batch of J iii.

impurities from the fruit, and after each pass sage it is heated andpartially purified by distillation, to prepare it for another passagethrough the fruit.

When this action has gone on for some time, thesulphur and otherimpurities are satisfactorily removed from the cherries, and

the cherries are then ready to be impregnated in order to formmaraschino cherries. During this impregnation, the treating fluid mayconsist, for example, of a syrup composed of water, sugar, and coloringmatter in proper proportions.

The syrup is brought into contact with'the first batch of fruit andtravels successively through the several batches in'the same man- 'ner'described above in connection w th the removal of impurities from thecherries. Preferably also suitable pressure variations are produced asdescribed "above, both by changes in the head of the treating liquid andby changes inthe degree of vacuum to which the fruit is subjected. Thesepressure variations result in a very. rapid and therough impregnation ofthe cherries by the treating fluid.

il l'ien the treating fluid has completed one passage through all of thebatches of cherries, it is preferably heated and concentrated. Thisconcentration may be only sufficient to counteract the dilution causedby the residue of water left in the cherries after the completion of thepur fying treatment, or the concentration may be carried still furtherto make the syrup somewhat stronger than it was originally. Preferablythe concentration is carried out under a partial vacuum,

so that the boiling point of the syrup then I by reduced. Under theseconditions. it is not necessary to heat the syrup to h gh atemperature'as would be required under normal atmospheric pressure. andtherefore the dannor of undesired caramelization of the syrup is largelyavoided.

After the treat-mg fluid has been concentrated to the required degree.it is preferably returned to the first batch of fruit and circulatesagain through all of the batches suc' ccssively. After its secondpassage, it may be again concentrated and returned for a third passage.and so on, the fluid be ng circulated over the cherries as many times asmay be deemed necessary to impregnate the cherries to the desiredextent.

Afterpart of the fluid in each instance being in theact of passingthrough the batches of fruit While another part is being distilledorconcentrated, or simply heated, as, the case may be. 3

When a process such as that abovedescribed is used, it is found that aproductof high quality results. Furthermore, the time required toproduce a satisfactory product. by this method is very much less thanthe time required by other methods heretofore in use. The abovedescription of the preparation of maraschino cherries is, of course,simply way of example, and is not intended in a limiting sense. The samemethod. of treat-- ment, or various parts thereof, may be used also forthe treatment of various other'organic substances. For example, glacfruit may be manufactured by substantially this same method, or driedfruit may be impregnated so as to have many of thedesirablecharacteristics of naturah-fruit. Furthermore, variousextracts, essential oils: or other .products may be removed from fruit,vegetables, flowers, or other articles. The various uses of the methodmentioned above are intended only as examples, and should not'be.

taken as a complete and exclusive list of the uses .to which this methodmay be adapted.

Having set forth the novel method, one possible embodiment of anapparatus for carrving out this method will now be described. Thisapparatus is particularly adapted to the manufacture of maraschinocherries but the embodiment described is for purposes of il-. lustrationonly-and is not to be taken in a limiting sense. Suitable changes 'maybe made in the apparatus to adapt it to the carryinc; out of variousother processes coming, within'thespirit of the invention, and all suchchanges and modifications are intended to be covered herein.

Referring" now to Fig. 1 of the. there is shown a suitable fluidreceptacle 11. A plurality of containers is also shown, each drawings,

container havinga shell 12. These containers are for the purpose ofholding the fruit.

con ainer. such as A. while the other container B is being unloaded andloaded with-.22 fresh supply of articles to be treated When thetreatment of the articles within container A has been completed. By theprovision of two or morecontainers in this way, the process may becarried out practically continuouslv, operations being transferred backand forth from one container to the other.

The receptacle 11 comprises a substantially closed container preferablyprovided with suitable heating means such as the coil 13, i

i which may be supplied with steam or other hot fluid through an inlet14, and which has an outlet 15. Attached to the receptacleat a pointnearthe top thereof is a conduit 16 leading past a control valve 17 to anys-uitable evacuating means, such as the eductor 18. This eductor may beoperated by water supplied to it through a conduit 19 by means of a pump20 operated by a motor 21.- The suction conduit 22 of the pump mayextend into a well 23 from which the water isdrawn, additional waterbeing supplied tothe well as may be necessary by opening the valve 24 inthe water supply line 25.

The water driven through the conduit 19 by the pump 20 pases through theeductor 18 and creates a partial vacuum in the conduit 16, thusevacuating the receptacle 11. The water discharged from the eductor,together with the vapor or air drawn from the receptacle 11, passesthrough the outlet conduit 26 into the discharge well 27 separated fromthe intake well 23'by a bafiie wall 28,

the liquid flowing over the top of this bafiie wall. from the well 27 tothe well 23. The use of a baflle wall such as this between the dischargeand the intake, is advantageous in securing a supply of relativelyquiet. water for the intake of the pump. An overflow opening 29 may beformed at any desired height in the wall of the well 23.

Other means may be used, if desired, to evacuate the receptacle 11, butthewaterwperated eductor above described constitutes one suitable meansfor producing the desired vacuum in the receptacle. It is obvious thatby means of the proper adjustment of the valve 17, the degree of vacuumwithin the receptacle-ll may be varied at will from zero to the maximumvacuum obtainable with the L eductor.

Referring now to the containers for holding the material to be treated,the outer shell 12 of each container is somewhat the shape of aninverted cup, and is adapted to rest upon a dished base supported'bysuitable legs 36. Each of these shells 12 mayhave peep holes 37 and 38for observing conditions within. Rings or other members 39 are rigidlyattached to each shell and provide means by which tackle 40 may besecured to p the shell for lifting it when desired.

In Fig. 1, the right hand fruit container A is shown with its shell 12resting upon the base 35, in operating position. The left hand containerB is shown with its shell raised to permit loading or unloading of thecontainer.

This raising may be accomplished by a hoist 41 supported from a trolley42 which runs upon the I-beam 43.

Within each of the fruit containers one or more fruit holding vesselsmay be placed. In the embodiment shown, several vessels are used withineach container, and they are in the form of trays 45 placed one on topof.

another to form a vertical 'column.- .Thetop tray is shown in elevationin Fig. 3 and in cross-section in Fig. 2, anddiflfers. from the othertrays below it in having a funnelshaped member 46 mounted therein, thisfun nel having horizontally extending discharge portions 47 The funnelis arranged centrally of the tray, and is adapted to be in alinementwith an inlet opening 48'at the top of the shell 12. Each tray or vessel45 may be provided with a plurality of downwardly extending lugs 50which overlap the sides of the tray next below, and thus hold the columnof trays in proper alinement. The bottom tray of the column mayrest uponsupports 51, as shown in Fig. 2-.

Each tray is provided with means for causing the discharge of a portionof the liquid 7 within the tray when the liquid level reachesapredetermined point. This discharge means may consist, for example, ofthe siphons shown in Fig. 2 the details of which are best seen in Figs.5 and 6.

' Each siphon comprises a vertically extending pipe fixed to the bottomof its tray'45 and having a cup-shaped hood or cap 56 attached to thetop of the pipe. Suitable openings 57 extend through the sides of thepipe 56, at which time the siphon action will stop.

An opening 60 is made through the bottom of the tray 45, within the pipe55, and within this opening is slidably mounted a tube 61 having anannular flange 62 at its upper end to limit its downward movement.Openin s '63 may be, provided in the sides of the tube 61, the tube alsobeing open at' top and bottom; It thus provides a telescoping extensionto the siphon. When one tray is placed upon another tray, the extension61 mounted I on the upper trav may telescope to a position such as thatshown in Fig. 6, when the bottom of the tube 61 comes into contact withthe material in the tray below. Thus the 55 at an elevation somewhatabove the lower edge 58 of the cap' 56. A screen 59 may be crushing ormashing of the material invthe tray below, which would occur iftheextenmore, the telescoping arrangement permits trated in Fig.3, when itis removed from the' container.

Preferably, the siphons in the various trays or vessels 45 are inslightly different posi-.

sion 61 were rigid, is prevented. Furthervthe tray to rest upon a flatsurface as illusvalve 71 to the receptacle 11, as shown in Fig.

, evacuated receptacle 11.

' purpose of supplying tions,:so that when the trays are placed one uponanother the various siphons will not be in alinement with each other,but will be circumferentially spaced as shown in Figs. 2- and4. A

. The bottom tray dischar es, of course,'into the dished bottom of t econtainer.--' An opening at thelovaest point 'of the bottom iscontrolled by a float valve-66 so that it is closed when the dishedbottom is substantially drained of liquid, and is open when anysubstantial amount of liquid is within this dished bottom 35.'

A conduit 70 has a branch connected to the opening 65 at the bottom ofeach of the containers,- and this conduit leads through a 1. Athermometer 72 may be mounted on the conduit .70 to show the temperatureof the flu'idpassing therethrough. 'At one pointin the conduit 70 thereis a branch controlled by a valve 73, this branch having a flexibleconduit or hose 74 attached thereto for the fluid to the system, aswill-bede'scribedlater. r

A conduit 75 is connected to the receptacle 11 at a'point above thenormal liquid level thereof, and has flexible branches76, one arrangedto be connected to a pipe 77 attached to'the-top of each shell 12. Eachof the flexible conduits 76 is controlled by a valve Extensions on thisvalve disk have links 84 pivoted to them at 85,. the opposite ends ofthese links being pivotally mounted on rods 86' mounted in the valvehousing. The valve I disk '82 is therefore able to be moved back andforth to openor closed position by reason of its suspension from thesepivoted links. It is obvious from Fig. 9 that the valve will openwhenever the ressure on the right hand side of the valve disk 82 exceedsthat on the left hand side, and vWill close whenever the pressure on theleft is greaterthan that on the ri ht.

A ange 87 on one of the links 84 .1s arranged in the plane of .thevalve,stem-88.

which may be raised or lowered by turning the handle 89. The position ofthe lower end of the valve stem 88 controlsthe extent to-which the checkvalve may open, and this valve steam may-be moved, if desired, to aposition-which will keep thc check valve closed in spite ofpressuretending to open,1t.- v

enters one branch of a T-shaped connection 90 placed in a verticalconduit 91 which extends upwardly from a pump. This pump maybe of any.suitable construction, 1n the embodiment here shown, as illustrated inFigs. 1, 7 and 8, the pump is of the reciprocating-type and includes acylinder 92 in which I Continuing past thevalve 8 1, the conduit apiston 98 is adapted to move back and.

forth, the movements of the piston beingcommunicated to it by a pistonrod 94 which is operatedby means such as the steam cylinder 95 (Fig. 1).

Chambers 96 and 97 (Fig. 7 are'formed at the right and left hand ends,respectively, of the pump cylinder, and each of these chambers has anoutlet opening'in which is seated a spring-pressed check valve 98. Whenthe check valves 98. are forced open by move -ment of the plunger orpiston in the ap-.

propriatedirection, liquid may flow from the pump into a conduit 99which leads, as

shown in Fig. 1, to the containers 12. This conduit 99has a branch 100detachably connected'to each container, each branch prefer ably beingflexible, such as a hose or thelikc} so that it can be easily attachedvto or detache 'from the elbow lOl-connected to the opening 48 at the topof the container. There is a valve 102 controlling each of the branches100.

The vertical conduit 91, mentioned above, extends upwardly for somedistance, and has an observation window 105 placed therein.

Near the top of this conduit, a float ball 111 is held in a suitablecage. (n'otshown) and is so arranged that it will close the conduit ifthe level of'liq'uid therein 'ever rises. as high as'this ball. 1

v The top of the conduit 91 is'connected-by means such as the conduit106 to any suit} able evacuating means or source of vacuum.

For purposes of illustration, theconduit'106 is shown as leading to aneductor indicated diagrammatically at 107, this eductor being suppliedwith water through a pipe 108 and discharging through a pipe 109. It isfound in practice that when the suction con-.

duit 91 of the pump is evacuated as just described, the pump is able todraw liquid from 'a partially evacuated container such as the receptacle11.

Fach fruit container shell 12 is'provided with asuitable air leak of anyconvenient form, such as the cock 112, which may be opened fully orpartially'to allow air to en'- ter the container at any desired rate.

In operation, assumingfor the purposes of illustration that theapparatus is'to be used in making maraschino cherries, the cherries"maybe placed in the vessels or receptacles45,

and these receptacles may be piled one on top of another as illustratedin Fig. 2. The

shell 12 may then be lowered to its normal position as-shown inconnection with the container A in F-ig'. Theconduit 76 is then also.The sulphur and other impurities should first be removed. To do this,the receptacle 11 is partially filled with water or .other suitableliquid and the pump 93 is started. It will be understood, of course,that the eductors 18 and 107 have been set in operation, so that thereceptacle 11 is partially evacuated and theconduit 91 is also evacuatedpreferably either to the same degree as or to a higherdegree than thereceptacle 11.

The operation of the pump 92 draws the liquid from the receptacle 11 andforces it through the conduits 99 and 100 into the top of the fruitcontainer, through the opening 48. The liquid entering through thisopening falls into the funnel 46 and escapes therefrom throu h thelateral openings 47.

The liquid fills the top tray until the l1qu1d level reachesvtheopenings 57 of the siphon, at which time the siphon action will begin.Port of the liquid from this top tray is then discharged through thesiphon into the tray next beneath it, and thus partially fills thesecond tray and comes into contact with what maybe termed the secondbatch of fruit, the fruit within each one of thetrays 45 beingconsidered a separate batch. After one or more discharges from the uppertray intothe one below, the siphon of the second tray will operate todischarge a part of the llquid into the third tray. As the flow ofliquid through the conduit 100 continues, all of the trays or vessels'45will eventually con-v tain more orless liquid and the liquid level ineach of the trays will rise, when the siphon of the tray next above itoperates and will fall when its own siphon operates to discharge intothe vessel below.

. The fluctuations in the liquid level of eachvessel produce changes, ofcourse, in the hydrostatic pressure acting upon the fruit, and thesevariations in pressure are of great ben efit in securing thoroughpenetration of the fluid into the fruit. In addition to these pres surevariations caused by fluctuations of the hydrostatic head, still otherpressure variations may be produced by varying the pressure within thecontainer 12.

These latter pressure variations may be caused by intermittently openingthe valve 78 as often as desired by the operator. It

will be remembered that, when the eductor 18 is in operation, thereceptacle 11 is partially evacuated. This evacuation may be of anycommunication with the container.

desired degree. When the valve 78 is open,

and the container therefore is likewise evacuated. The valve 78 may thenbe closed. .As

air gradually enters the container through the air leak 112 the pressurewithin the container will rise and the degree of vacuum will belessened.

When this increase in pressure has reached the desired point, theoperator may. again open the valve 78 to evacuate the container 12 andreduce the pressure therein. The air leaking in through the air leakagain raises the pressure, and this cycle of pressure change may berepeated as often as desired.

Thus it is seen that two separate variations are produced in thepressure acting upon the fruit. Qne variation is causedby the change inthe hydrostatic head, while the other variation is caused by change inthe pressure of the air or other gas within the container. I

These two variations are preferably timed to occur at differentintervals, so thatsomewh'at irregular pressure changes result.

The action or effect of these pressure changes may be spoken of as abreathing action or breathing effect. As the pressure acting upon anyone piece of fruit increases, the liquid is forced into the pores andcells of the fruit. When the pressure decreases, the air or gas Withineach cell of the fruit tends to expand and thus the cells may bepartially broken down so that liquid can enter them more easily duringthe next increase in pressure, In this Way, the fruit is very rapidlyimpregnated by the treating fluid.

The water within the receptacle 11 may be heated to any desired point bythe coil 13 before it is pumped into the fruit container most tray 45into the dished bottom 35 of the container, the floatvalve 66 isautomatically opened and the conduit 70 is thus placed into It will beremembered that the conduit 70 is connected to the partially evacuatedreceptacle 11, and therefore the liquid which passes the float valve 66and enters the conduit 70 will be drawn by the vacuum through thisconduit and into the receptacle 11, the rate of flow being controlled bythe valve 71. Thus, the liquid is circulated alternately through thefruit container'12 and the receptacle 11, being pumped from the latterto the former by the pump 92 and being drawn from the former to thelatter through the conduit 70 on account of the lower pressure in thereceptacle 11 than the pressure in the container 12.

The sulphur laden water maybe removed and re laced by fresh water atintervals if desire If the water is boiled or partially 1 syrup, whichmay consist ,of mixed water} therein. This same method ofintroducingdistilled within the, receptacle 1 1, sulphur fumes will be liberatedand will be carried off through the conduit 16 to the'eductor 18.

The treating fluid is thus partially purified so that it is able totakeup more impurities.

from the fruit on its next contact therewith. When the operation ofremoving the sulphur has been completed, the water is drained off, andthe second step of the treatment may be commenced. I

At the beginning of the second step of'the treatment, it is assumed thatthe receptacle 11 and the fruit container 12 have had substantially allof" the liquid which was used for extraction of the impurities removedtherefrom, and that the container 12 holds a. sup ly of cherries fromwhich the sulphur has een satisfactorily removed.

To impregnate the cherries in order to transform them into maraschinocherries, the receptacle 11 is partially filled. with suitable sugar,and coloring matter. One convenient way of filling the receptacle llisto place the hose .74 in a vat or tank containing a supply of the syrup.lVhenthe valves 71 and 73 are opened, syrup will then be drawn into thereceptacle 11 because of the partial vacuum liquid into the receptaclemay be used from time to time to replenish the liquid as the processgoes on, and of course the same meth-' od may be employed forintroducing the treating fluid which is employed for extracting'theimpurities.

Steam is admitted to the coil 13 so that the syrup within the receptacle11 is heated,

and the pump 92 is started to transfer liquid from the receptaclethrough the conduits 99 and 100 to the fruit container 12. The syrupfalls into the top tray: containing the first batch of cherries and issiphoned from this tray into the tray below, containing the sec '.,ondbatch, and on down to the lowerjtrays,

nection with the water-used to extractimin the same manner describedabove-in con purities from the cherries. The-vacuum with;

' in the receptacle 11, being of'ahigher degree than that within thecontainer 12, will draw the liquid from the bottom of the containerthrough the conduit into the receptacle.

Thus there will be practically a continuous circulation of liquid fromthe receptacle 11 to the container by means of the conduit 99,

and from the container to the receptacle by means of the conduit 70. pAs the liquid continues to flow into the top tray -or vessel 45, thesiphons of the various trays will operate at frequent intervals and thusthe level of the liquid within each tray will be'varied from time totime, producing a fluctuating hydrostatic head' as was describedabove-in connection with theremoval of the sulphur and otherimpurities.

Each time that the liquid level in one of the concentration.

trays rises or falls, it tends to. stir up the I cherries within thetray and thus agitates them from time to time and prevents them frombecoming packed or wedged.

In addition to the variations in pressure acting on the cherriesproduced by the change in hydrostatic head in each tray, the pressurewithin the container 12 is also varied by the intermittent opening ofthe valve 78 and 'the' slow leakof' air into the container through 'theair leak, in the manner mentioned above.

Thus two separate variations in pressure are produced, the combinedeffect of which causes a breathing action which permits the syrup toimpregnate the cherries easily and theroughly in a comparatively shorttime.

While the circulation of liquid-is going, on, t

the liquid within the receptacle 11 is being heated by the coil 13 tothe desired extent,

and a portion of it may be evaporated, the

resulting vapor being drawn off through theconduit 16 leading to theeductor 18. In this Way, the treating fluid may be concentrated,

if desired, as the process progresses, and'each' time a drop of fluid isdrawn into the recep-. tacle 11 through the conduit 70, itmay beconsidered as being somewhat concentrated before it. is pumped out'through the conduit 99 to return to the container. tration counteractsthe dilution of the syrup by the residuaLwater remaining in the fruitafter the sulphur has been'removed, and the syrup may alsobeconcentrated still further, iii desired, to increase its strength to anydesired'd'egree. 1 v

Since the treating fluid isbeing concentrated as the process goes on, itfollows that the This concenfruit is being acted upon'by a fluid havinga gradually increasing strength or degree of Thus, the strongest'fluidacts upon the cherries toward the end of the process, and in this mannerthe cherries are impregnated in a highly satisfactory manner, and aproduct of high quality is produced.

"From time to time some of the fluid may .avoided. 'As is well known,water at nor:- -mal atmospheric pressure boils at 212 1.

Water in a vacuum of 15" of mercury, however, boils at about'179 F.,wlnle 1f the degree of vacuum be increased to 28" of merj cury, theboiling pointis about 100 F. the vacuum within the receptacle 11, duringthe normal operation of the apparat1 is, ord1- narily is somewherebetween thesehrnits of 15" and 28", it follows that the liquid may beevaporated and concentrated at a temperature considerably below 212 andtherefore the danger of caram'elization which might result from highertemperaturesis avoided.

In the fruit container 12, the vacuum may vary from about 0' to about25" of mercury. Thus when the valve 78 is opened, it may be left openlong enough toproduce a vacuum of about 25"" in'the container 12,assuming that the receptacle 11 then carries a vacuum of about 28". Whenthe valve'78 is closed, air may be allowed to entcr the container .12through the air leak 112 until the vacuum is reduced to zero, before thevalve 78 isagain opened; or the valve 7 8 may be opened to build up avacuum again whenever the pressure within the container 12 has-risen toany predetermined point. Suitable gauges are applied, of course, to thereceptacle 11 and to the containers 12, so that the operator may beinformed at all times of the pressure conditions within these vessels.

When the treatment of: the fruit within the container A has beencompleted, the valve 102 leading to'this container, may be closed,

and the corresponding valve leading to the container B may be opened,assuming that this latter container has been supplied with fruit whilethe fruit within the container A was being treated. The process may thenbe carried on upon the fruit in'the container B, while the conduits 76andlOO are disconnected, from the-container A and the shell 12,0f

this container is raised to permit access to the trays 45 for removal ofthe fruit and replacement of a fresh supply. WVhen the fruit withincontainer B has been treated, operations may be transferred againto thecontainer A.

Thus it will be seen that the apparatus is adapted for a practicallycontinuous process. By the use oft-he method and apparatus abovedescribed, the cherries are satisfactorily impregnated-with the treatingfluid to make high quality maraschino cherries in a much .shorter timethan is possible with the old methods heretofore practiced. 'Forexample,

the old so-called cold method for making maraschino' cherries ordinarilytakes from six to eight weeks, while the hot method often takes at leastthreeweeks. As distinguished from this, the present novel method :andapparatus will produce a satisfactory product in approximately thirtyhours. resulting from this method and apparatus is of the highestquality, the fruit being thorod andapparatus may be used effectivelyboth in the extraction or removal of substances from fruit, flowers-,andother products, aswell as in the impregnation of the products.

Furthermore, the treating fluid is not necessarily a liquid but may be agas or vapor, and many features of the invention are applicable equallywell to the use of a gaseous treating medium.-

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to beunderstood that the inventive idea may be carried out in a num ber ofways. This application is therefore not to be limited to the precisedetails shown but is intended to cover all variations and modificationsthereof falling Within the spirit of the invention or the .scope of theappended claim.

claim as my invention: 1 v

The method of treating fruit, vegetables, and like organic productswhich comprises bringing products and a treating liquid into contactwith each other in a partial vacuum and repeatedly varying the degree ofsaid vacuum while said roducts are in contact wltlrsaid treating llquidso that said treating liquid may permeate said products thoroughly.

ULYSESSv G. TODD.-

The product oughly impregnated with the treating liquid,

and the treating liquid itself being controlled so that it has thedesired characteristics- As has been stated above, it should beunderstood that the description'of this method and apparatus inconnection with maraschino cherries is intended only by way ofillustra-- tion. The same apparatus and the same method, orvarious'parts thereof, may be used I equally well i for many otherproducts. For

I instance, glare fruit may be manufactured in

